"LORD, what is man, that Thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that Thou makest account of him! Man is like to vanity: his days are as a shadow that passeth away." (Psalm 144:3-4) *************************************************************************** ALL GLORY TO THE LORD TUNE "THERE IS A FOUNTAIN" CM/DOUBLE WORDS BY JIM BYRD
1. Let all who trust the Savior’s Name, Sing praises to the Lord; May He alone be magnified, By all the church adored. Behold what love and grace is this, That He for us would die? Amazing pity, Jesus came, God’s law to satisfy.
2. The sins of all His chosen ones, On Him were made to meet; And by His sacrificial death, Redemption was complete! Behold He ever lives above, For us to intercede; He is the way, the truth, the life, For all His chosen seed.
3. Soon He shall come with trumpet sound, And all the world shall see; That Jesus is the Lord of lords, And praise His majesty. So saints of God with heart and voice, Unite in one accord; Exalt our Savior, God and King, Sing praises to the Lord! *************************************************************************** Daily Readings -February 19-25 Sunday - Numbers 14-15 Monday - Numbers 16-18 Tuesday - Numbers 19-20 Wednesday- Numbers 21-22 Thursday - Numbers 23-25 Friday - Numbers 26-27 Saturday - Numbers 28-29
SCRIPTURE READINGS TODAY: Morning - ROMANS 5:1-11 Evening - LUKE 11:1-13 *************************************************************************** THE ABSURDITIES OF FREE-WILL Free-will brings with it so many absurdities that it cannot be received. First. It makes man the cause of his own salvation.
Second. It puts grace into man’s power, not man’s will under the power of grace.
Third. It robs God of the honor of making one to differ from another, and ascribes it to man. Read 1 Corinthians 4:7.
Fourth. It allows man a liberty of boasting to God, saying, "God, I thank Thee that Thou gavest me power to will (yet Thou gavest that to Judas as well as me), but I thank myself for the act of willingness, seeing I received from Thee no more than Judas did."
Fifth. It exempts the creature from the power of God, as if man, spider-like, could spin a thread out of his own bowels whereof to climb to heaven.
Sixth. It maketh man the cause why God willeth this or that; so God must attend on the will of man, and not be infallible in His decrees, not working all things according to the counsel of His own will (Ephesians 1:11; Psalm 115:3).
Seventh. Then the apostle James lied in saying "every good gift" is from God (James 1:17); and Paul also was mistaken in Romans 9:11. He should have said, "It is of man that willeth and runneth," and not, "Of God that sheweth mercy."
(From An Antidote to Arminianism by Christopher Ness, first printed in 1700.) *************************************************************************** THE IDOLATRY OF FREE-WILLISM
I grew up in free-will religion and believe I have a good understanding of its message. It teaches that the Father’s love is toward mankind, the Son died for mankind and the Holy Spirit wills the salvation of mankind, but the effectiveness of God’s love, the results of Christ’s death and the success of the Spirit’s will all hinge upon the cooperation of sinners. According to free-willism, salvation is ultimately determined by the sinner, not by the Lord. Free-willism leads to this conclusion: the reason why some enter heaven while others perish in hell is that those in heaven exercised their wills and let God save them while those in hell would not allow Him to save them. Free-willism, therefore, declares it is man’s will, and not the Lord’s, which is the deciding factor in salvation. This is to make an idol out of man’s will.
No matter how much some may insist on the freedom of man’s will, the Savior’s words on the subject abide forever. "And ye will not come to me that ye might have life" (John 5:40). Man’s will is in bondage to sin and Satan; it is not free, but enslaved and the Scriptures ascribe deliverance from this captivity to be of God’s will and power, not man’s. "For He saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy" (Romans 9:15-16). Concerning those who receive Christ it is written, "which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:13). It is a fact then, all who receive Christ as Prophet, Priest and King are "made willing in the day of His power" (Psalm 110:3). "Of His own will begat He us, with the Word of Truth" (James 1:18). Isn’t it interesting that those who battle so adamantly for the freedom of man’s will would deny God the very thing they demand for themselves, the liberty of doing whatever He has purposed? Though men bow in homage to the god of free-willism, nevertheless the Lord declared,"Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own?" (Matthew 20:15). "I will do all My pleasure" (Isaiah 46:10). –Pastor Jim Byrd
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